4121.36
Industrial commission hearing rules.

(A)
The
industrial commission shall adopt rules as to the conduct of all hearings
before the commission and its staff and district hearing officers and the
rendering of a decision and shall focus such rules on managing, directing, and
otherwise ensuring a fair, equitable, and uniform hearing process. These rules
shall provide for at least the following steps and procedures:

(1)
Adequate notice to all parties and their
representatives to ensure that no hearing is conducted unless all parties have
the opportunity to be present and to present evidence and arguments in support
of their positions or in rebuttal to the evidence or arguments of other
parties;

(4)
Impartial assignment of staff and
district hearing officers and assignment of appeals from a decision of the
administrator of workers' compensation to a district hearing officer located at
the commission service office that is the closest in geographic proximity to
the claimant's residence;

(3)
Signatures of each commissioner or
appropriate hearing officer on the original copy of the decision only,
verifying the commissioner's or hearing officer's vote;

(4)
Description of the part of the body and
nature of the disability recognized in the claim.

(C)
The commission shall adopt rules that
require the regular rotation of district hearing officers with respect to the
types of matters under consideration and that ensure that no district or staff
hearing officer or the commission hears a claim unless all interested and
affected parties have the opportunity to be present and to present evidence and
arguments in support of their positions or in rebuttal to the evidence or
arguments of other parties.

(D)
All matters which, at the request of one of the parties or on the initiative of
the administrator and any commissioner, are to be expedited, shall require at
least forty-eight hours' notice, a public hearing, and a statement in any order
of the circumstances that justified such expeditious hearings.

(E)
All meetings of the commission and
district and staff hearing officers shall be public with adequate notice,
including if necessary, to the claimant, the employer, their representatives,
and the administrator. Confidentiality of medical evidence presented at a
hearing does not constitute a sufficient ground to relieve the requirement of a
public hearing, but the presentation of privileged or confidential evidence
shall not create any greater right of public inspection of evidence than
presently exists.

(F)
The
commission shall compile all of its original memorandums, orders, and decisions
in a journal and make the journal available to the public with sufficient
indexing to allow orderly review of documents. The journal shall indicate the
vote of each commissioner.

(1)
All original orders, rules, and
memoranda, and decisions of the commission shall contain the signatures of two
of the three commissioners and state whether adopted at a meeting of the
commission or by circulation to individual commissioners. Any facsimile or
secretarial signature, initials of commissioners, and delegated employees, and
any printed record of the "yes" and "no" vote of a commission member or of a
hearing officer on such original is invalid.

(2)
Written copies of final decisions of district or
staff hearing officers or the commission that are mailed to the administrator,
employee, employer, and their respective representatives need not contain the
signatures of the hearing officer or commission members if the hearing officer
or commission members have complied with divisions (B)(3) and (G)(1) of this
section.

(1)
Appoint an individual as a hearing
officer trainer who is in the unclassified civil service of the state and who
serves at the pleasure of the commission. The trainer shall be an attorney
registered to practice law in this state and have experience in training or
education, and the ability to furnish the necessary training for district and
staff hearing officers.

The hearing officer trainer shall develop and periodically
update a training manual and such other training materials and courses as will
adequately prepare district and staff hearing officers for their duties under
this chapter and Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code. All district and staff
hearing officers shall undergo the training courses developed by the hearing
officer trainer, the cost of which the commission shall pay. The commission
shall make the hearing officer manual and all revisions thereto available to
the public at cost.

The commission shall have the final right of approval over all
training manuals, courses, and other materials the hearing officer trainer
develops and updates.

(2)
Appoint a hearing administrator, who shall be in the classified civil service
of the state, for each bureau service office, and sufficient support personnel
for each hearing administrator, which support personnel shall be under the
direct supervision of the hearing administrator. The hearing administrator
shall do all of the following:

(a)
Assist the
commission in ensuring that district hearing officers comply with the time
limitations for the holding of hearings and issuance of orders under section
4123.511 of the Revised Code. For
that purpose, each hearing administrator shall prepare a monthly report
identifying the status of all claims in its office and identifying specifically
the claims which have not been decided within the time limits set forth in
section 4123.511 of the Revised Code. The
commission shall submit an annual report of all such reports to the standing
committees of the house of representatives and of the state to which matters
concerning workers' compensation are normally referred.

(b)
Provide information to requesting parties
or their representatives on the status of their claim;

(c)
Issue compliance letters, upon a finding
of good cause and without a formal hearing in all of the following areas:

(vii)
Any other matter that will cause a free
exchange of information prior to the formal hearing.

(d)
Ensure that claim files are reviewed by
the district hearing officer prior to the hearing to ensure that there is
sufficient information to proceed to a hearing;

(e)
Ensure that for occupational disease
claims under section
4123.68 of the Revised Code that
require a medical examination the medical examination is conducted prior to the
hearing;

(f)
Take the necessary
steps to prepare a claim to proceed to a hearing where the parties agree and
advise the hearing administrator that the claim is not ready for a hearing.

(I)
The
commission shall permit any person direct access to information contained in
electronic data processing equipment regarding the status of a claim in the
hearing process. The information shall indicate the number of days that the
claim has been in process, the number of days the claim has been in its current
location, and the number of days in the current point of the process within
that location.

(1)
The industrial commission may establish an
alternative dispute resolution process for workers' compensation claims that
are within the commission's jurisdiction under Chapters 4121., 4123., 4127.,
and 4131. of the Revised Code when the commission determines that such a
process is necessary. Notwithstanding sections
4121.34 and
4121.35 of the Revised Code, the
commission may enter into personal service contracts with individuals who are
qualified because of their education and experience to act as facilitators in
the commission's alternative dispute resolution process.

(2)
The parties' use of the alternative dispute
resolution process is voluntary, and requires the agreement of all necessary
parties. The use of the alternative dispute resolution process does not alter
the rights or obligations of the parties, nor does it delay the timelines set
forth in section
4123.511 of the Revised Code.

(3)
The commission shall prepare
monthly reports and submit those reports to the governor, the president of the
senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives describing all of the
following:

(a)
The names of each facilitator
employed under a personal service contract;

(b)
The hourly amount of money and the total
amount of money paid to each facilitator;

(c)
The number of disputed issues resolved
during that month by each facilitator;

(d)
The number of decisions of each
facilitator that were appealed by a party;

(e)
A certification by the commission that
the alternative dispute resolution process did not delay any hearing timelines
as set forth in section
4123.511 of the Revised Code for
any disputed issue.

(4)
The commission may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code for the administration of any alternative dispute resolution process that
the commission establishes.